Facing the Music
by EllaoftheOpera
Summary: Peter and Bucky are concerned about Lia. She hasn't acted like herself in a long while. What could possibly be bothering her? TRIGGER WARNING: Rated T for some moderate to severe bullying (depending on how you look at it.) No swearing or sexual content. Peter/OC. Don't worry guys, it has a happy ending. :)


**A/N: This story takes place a year after Spiderman: Homecoming. Therefore, the Homecoming dance mentioned in this story is the one that happens a year AFTER the one in the movie. Also, just to clarify, Lia and Peter are not together yet like in my last one-shot. That happens later on. They're just REALLY good friends right now. I thought this up while reflecting on my years of being bullied in school. Although, I've never had anything as horrible as what happens to Lia happen to me (As River Song would say: Spoilers!). Anyway, enjoy! Please review and tell me how I did!**

Lia's hands shook as she walked through the doors of Midtown High School of Science and Technology. She quickly scanned the hallway before her with anxious eyes, before deeming it safe to walk down. Taking long strides, Lia made her way to her locker and sighed in relief when she got there. There were plenty of people hovering around in the area. Lia didn't worry about being bothered by her here.

Lia had been attending high school for less than a week when she had cornered her in a deserted hallway. She had taunted her, calling her names and making fun of her hair and clothes. Lia always tried to ignore her, but, like any good bully, she never let up.

Lia had just put in her locker combination and was about to open the door when a hand slammed down on it. She yelped, jumping back and whirling around. Her heart dropped into her stomach when she saw who was behind her.

It was her. Lauren Brady. Lia's personal tormentor for the past month.

"Good morning, Lia! We missed you on Friday. Where were you?" she asked in an overly sweet voice.

"I-I was sick. I-I stayed home." she stuttered. She wasn't actually sick on Friday. She had just faked a cough and stuffy nose so she wouldn't have to go to school and face this horrid girl.

"Oh, that's too bad! You missed sloppy joe day. Don't worry though. I saved some for you." She grinned evilly.

Lia was confused. It was then that she noticed the rank smell coming from her locker. Her eyes widened. She turned and opened the door a crack, slamming it immediately closed again when the smell worsened. Then she realized what had transpired.

Lauren had stuffed sloppy joe into her locker on Friday and it had sat there all day Saturday and Sunday, baking within the confines of the hot metal box. Lia could only imagine the mess that awaited her inside. She turned back. Lauren had started walking away.

"Have fun cleaning out your locker, Lia!" Lauren shouted behind her. " I'll see you after school!"

Lia bit her lip as tears welled in her eyes. She wasn't going to cry. She hadn't shed a single tear over that girl and she wasn't going to start now.

"You okay there, Lia?" Peter's voice came from behind her. He sounded concerned.

Lia swallowed hard and took a deep breath before turning around to see him, a phony smile plastered on her face. "Yeah Peter, I'm fine."

He sniffed the air, wrinkling his nose. "What's that smell?" he asked.

"Oh, I um… left some of my lunch in my locker over the weekend. Forgot to take it home with me," she lied.

Peter looked unconvinced. Before he could say anything else, Ned walked up behind him and tapped him on the shoulder.

"Hey Peter, did you do the chemistry homework? I totally forgot."

The conversation steered away from Lia and her locker after that. She slipped away while they were talking. Neither of them noticed she had left for several minutes. It was Ned who finally noticed her absence.

"Hey Peter, where did Lia go?" he asked, scanning the hallway for her familiar long brown locks.

Peter sobered at the mention of his best friend. "I don't know. She's been acting really weird the last few weeks. She won't tell me what's wrong."

"Maybe she's just stressed about school," Ned suggested.

"Maybe." Peter was unconvinced though. He and Lia told each other everything. He was confident that if she was stressed about school, she would tell him about it. No, this was something else, he was sure of it. But the more he thought about his best friend, the more worried he got.

ooOOoo

Lia made it through the rest of the day without running into Lauren. She was walking out the doors at the end of the day, thanking Heimdall for her good luck, when she heard her.

"Where do you think you're going, _Butterfly_?" she asked in a mocking tone.

Lia clenched her fists. Only Peter was allowed to call her Butterfly. Hearing Lauren use his special nickname for her made her blood boil. She turned to face her tormentor.

"Anywhere you aren't," she replied.

Lauren laughed cruelly. "You didn't think I'd let you leave without talking to me, did you?" she asked in an icy tone. She strode confidently toward Lia, who was trying hard to stop her hands from shaking. "I overheard your little friend talking about you in chemistry today."

"Shut up, Lauren," Lia tried and failed to say with confidence.

"He was telling his other friend how much he hates when you tag along with him. He thinks you're an annoying little crybaby. I specifically remember him saying that he wishes you would take your problems to somebody who actually cares."

" _Shut up,_ Lauren." Lia managed to say it a little more forcefully this time, but it did nothing to hinder the blonde girl.

"Honestly, I agree with him. Who would want to be friends with an ugly little stick figure like you? You're probably better off making friends with the plants in the botany lab. Oh wait, you already have!" she laughed.

Lia looked down at her feet. She liked to talk to the plants in the botany lab when no one was listening. Apparently, Lauren had overheard.

"I mean, have you ever even heard of makeup?" Lauren continued to taunt.

Before she could utter another hurtful remark, one of Lauren's friends called to her from the parking lot. She turned to go.

"You know what? I changed my mind. No amount of makeup will fix that pig face." She called out over her shoulder.

Lia could hear her laughing as she walked toward the parking lot. She choked back a sob, refusing to cry. She knew that Peter and Ned would never say anything like that about her, but it still hurt to hear Lauren say it. After a few more deep breaths, she was able to calm herself enough to compose a straight face. She walked briskly toward the unmarked black car parked in front of the school, waiting to take her back to the compound.

"Hey, Lia! Wait up! You'll never guess what happened today!" Peter yelled from behind her.

Lia sighed, before once again putting a smile on her face and turning to around to see her friend. "What's got you so excited, Peter?" she asked.

"I got a date for Homecoming next week! Guess who I'm going with!" he panted, slightly out of breath.

"Who?"

"I'm going with Lauren Brady! She asked me today in Chemistry!" he replied excitedly, a wide grin on his face.

Lia's heart sank all the way to her toes. She bit her lip, holding back the tears that threatened to spill just a few minutes before.

"That's… great, Peter. I'm happy for you." She managed to get out.

Peter frowned. "You don't seem happy. Are you sure you're okay? You've been acting really weird these past couple weeks."

"I told you before, Peter. I'm fine," she said, more forcefully than she meant to. She turned and opened the door of the black car. "I have to go, now. I'll see you tomorrow," she said brusquely.

Peter watched the black car drive away, more confused than ever.

ooOOoo

Bucky watched Lia mope around the compound distractedly. He frowned. Lia had been acting differently this past couple of weeks. He had initially put it down to the stress of starting school, but he could tell now that it wasn't the school that was bothering her. She had begun to spend more and more time in her room, away from everyone else. That was normal, he reasoned. She probably had homework she was doing. But then she stopped joking around with Sam and Clint. She stopped bothering Tony incessantly about his projects. She stopped calling Pietro a 'slowpoke' whenever she saw him. She didn't eat as much, either. Now that Bucky thought about it, he couldn't remember the last time he had heard her laugh, or even the last time he had seen her smile.

"Hey Lia, how was school?" he called out, watching her rummage around in the kitchen for a drinking glass. He noticed she looked thinner, like she had lost weight. At this thought, his worry about what exactly might be wrong with her increased tenfold.

"Fine," she answered distractedly. She found a glass in one of the cabinets and opened the fridge to grab the jug of grape juice Tony kept in there for her.

"What did you eat for lunch today?" he asked, trying to stay nonchalant.

She looked at him pointedly. "Do you think I have an eating disorder? Cause I don't."

Bucky was taken aback. "I noticed you weren't eating as much, and that you looked thinner. I just wanted to make sure you were alright."

She groaned loudly. "Why does everybody keep asking me if I'm alright? I'm fine. I wish everybody would just leave me alone!" She said angrily. She slammed the jug of juice on the counter, replacing the lid. She grabbed her juice glass forcefully.

"I'm going to my room. I have homework," she said.

Bucky watched her as she stomped down the hall toward her room. When he heard the door to her room close, he pulled out his phone, scrolling through his contacts until he came to the one Lia had given him for her friend. He pressed the call button. It only rang twice before Bucky heard the kid's voice on the other end.

" _Hello?"_

"Is this Peter Parker?"

" _Yeah… who's this?"_

"This is Bucky Barnes. Lia gave me your number a while back. We need to talk."

There was silence on the other end for a moment. " _Did you notice that something's up with Lia, too?"_

Bucky sat in silence for a moment as well, before asking, "She's been acting weird around you, too?"

" _Yeah. She hardly ever smiles anymore. She doesn't joke around with me and our other friend, Ned. She doesn't even talk to the plants in the botany lab anymore."_

"She talks to the plants at the school too? I thought she only did that here at home..."

" _Yeah, she has names for all of them. It's actually pretty adorable."_

"Huh. Anyway, I was calling to see if anything happened between you two that would have caused her to act this way, like if you got in a fight or something."

" _No, no fights. Nothing's different between us, as far as I can tell. I thought maybe something was going on with the Avengers or something else on your end. I was just too polite to ask."_

"Nothing's going on over here. Everything is totally calm for the time being." He paused. "When did you first notice her acting differently?"

" _Almost a month ago. I've been trying to get her to tell me what's wrong but she consistently tells me she's fine. She is definitely not fine, though."_

"Yeah, I know. Something's really bothering her and it's starting to worry me. Although, she did totally shut down my theory about her having an eating disorder, so I think we can rule that out."

" _That's good. I noticed she was getting thinner."_ He paused. " _Now that I think about it, she was acting particularly weird around me today. Especially after school."_

"What happened?"

" _I told her about this girl in my chemistry class that asked me to the Homecoming dance. She looked like she was about to cry."_

"Do you think she might be jealous?"

" _Gosh, no. Lia's not one to get jealous at all. Besides, she already has plans for Homecoming. She and her friend Michelle are going together since neither of them have dates."_

Bucky frowned. "Do you think maybe Lia doesn't get along with this particular girl that you're going with?"

" _Lauren? No way. Lauren's like the nicest girl in school. She wouldn't hurt a fly. Although…"_ Peter paused. " _Lia didn't bite her lip until I mentioned her name."_

"She bit her lip?"

" _Yeah, it's what she does when she's upset and she's trying not to cry. She's been doing that a lot lately."_

"Huh." Bucky had noticed her biting her lip a lot. He didn't know why she did it until now.

Bucky heard the sound of a door opening and a woman calling on the other end. " _Just a second, May!"_ Bucky heard a quiet shout. " _I gotta go."_

"Okay. Call me if you think of anything that might be bothering Lia, alright?"

" _Okay."_ The line went dead.

ooOOoo

Lauren approached Lia a few days later on Thursday. "How was cleaning out your locker, Lia?" she asked sweetly.

Lia tried not to shudder. The janitor had taken pity on her and lent her some gloves and cleaning supplies when she came in early that morning to clean it out. But even with the added protection of gloves, Lia doubted she would ever forget the feeling of that nastiness between her fingers.

"Why do you care?" she asked quietly.

Lauren smiled wickedly. "Because," she started, "Your little friend is taking me to Homecoming tomorrow night. You better not be there, or you'll get something much worse than a meat-filled locker."

Before she could elaborate on her statement, Peter walked over toward them. Lauren's smile turned from wicked to sweet. "Hey, Peter! I was just talking to Lia about how much fun Homecoming will be!" She exclaimed excitedly. She turned back toward Lia. "You are coming, aren't you?" she asked in a sweet voice, glaring so that only Lia could see and not Peter.

Lia bit her lip, lowering her eyes. She had been looking forward to Homecoming as a chance to finally have fun without worrying about Lauren. Now, she wouldn't even get to go without enduring some form of abject humiliation.

"No," she said quietly.

"Oh, that's too bad! Why not?" she asked, giving her a look that said if she told any of this to Peter she would regret it.

"Something came up at home," she replied softly. Despite her attempts to keep them at bay, a single tear ran down her cheek. She wiped it off quickly, hoping Peter didn't see.

"Oh no, that's horrible! I'm so sorry that you can't come! We'll take lots of pictures for you!" she said. She turned back toward Peter, who was looking at Lia with a confused look on his face. She grabbed his arm, leading him away from Lia.

"Come on Peter, we're going to be late for chemistry."

Peter turned back toward Lia only to find an empty hallway. He sighed and let Lauren guide him toward his class, deciding to talk to Lia about the matter later.

ooOOoo

" _...and then she said that something had come up at home."_ Peter was explaining to Bucky what had happened to Lia at school that day. Bucky had known something was wrong when Lia had gotten home and gone straight to her room without saying anything. She didn't emerge for the rest of the afternoon, not even for dinner.

"Nothing's going on here. At least, nothing that would prevent her from going to Homecoming."

" _That's not even the worst part. She was biting her lip so hard I swear she must have drawn blood. Lauren dragged me off to chemistry class after that but she was crying when I left. I tried to turn back to talk to her but she was already gone."_

"Do you think that Lauren had something to do with this?"

" _I don't think so. She was so nice to Lia when she found out she wasn't going anymore."_

"I'll talk to Lia and see what I can find out. Maybe she'll finally give us some answers."

ooOOoo

Lia laid on her bed, trying desperately not to cry. She had only shed a few tears, but she already felt so weak for doing so. She didn't want to cry. Not over Lauren.

She glanced toward her closet. The door was open, revealing the lavender short-sleeved dress she had been planning on wearing to Homecoming. Michelle had helped her pick it out.

At the sight of the dress, Lia sat up. She wasn't going to let a horrid girl decide whether or not she went to Homecoming. That was her decision, and it was already made. No matter what Lauren was planning for her. If she stuck to Michelle, Lauren wouldn't dare touch her.

There was a knock at her door. "Can I come in, Lia?" Bucky's voice was heard.

For the first time in almost a month, Lia smiled. "Yeah, come on in."

ooOOoo

"Wow Michelle, you look really pretty," Lia commented. She had shown up to the dance wearing a dark blue dress that accentuated the lovely deep brown color of her skin tone.

"Thanks." her face was emotionless. "You look nice, too."

Lia was wearing the lavender dress with her hair pinned up in an elegant bun. She smiled. "Thank you."

They were standing outside the school, where Lia had been waiting for Michelle to show up. Lia may have been brave enough to actually attend Homecoming (despite Lauren's threats), but she wasn't going inside without some form of backup.

"What are we doing outside? Let's go in." Michelle started walking inside, leaving Lia no choice but to follow. She shook her head, smiling. Despite knowing Michelle for only a month, she had already gotten used to most of her quirks.

The gym had been decorated with balloons and streamers to the point that you had to watch where you stepped, for fear of stepping on and popping a balloon. Lia immediately began scanning the room for Peter (she was actually looking for Lauren, but she told herself she was looking for Peter). She spotted him in the corner talking to Ned, with a very annoyed Lauren standing next to him.

When Lauren saw Lia, she made a face that looked as if she had been sucking on a lemon. She got Peter's attention.

"I'm thirsty. I'm going to go and get a drink," she said. He nodded and turned back to Ned.

Lauren strode purposefully over to Lia, who began to desperately scan the room for Michelle. She had gone off on her own the minute she got there, wanting to do who knows what.

"What are you doing here?" she hissed. "I thought I told you to stay away from the dance!"

Lia stood tall and unwavering under Lauren's hateful gaze. "I decided not to let one mean girl ruin my night of fun. You don't control me, Lauren."

Lauren's mouth was pressed into a tight line. "You are going to regret this," she said in a low voice. "Just you wait!"

"Lia? What are you doing here?" Peter walked up behind Lauren. "I thought you weren't coming anymore."

Lia took a deep breath and smiled the first real smile Peter had seen in months. "I changed my mind."

Lauren smiled sweetly. "I'm so glad you came, Lia! This is going to be so much more fun with you here!"

A slow song came over the speakers. "Come on, Peter. Let's go dance." She grabbed his hand and pulled him away, but not before glancing back at Lia and giving her a 'this isn't over' look.

Lia made her way to the refreshments table, leaning on the edge of it. She watched the couples slow-dancing, frowning when she didn't see Peter and Lauren with them.

"Where did they go?" she muttered to herself.

And that was when she felt the table tip. She hadn't been leaning on it hard enough to tip it over at all. In fact, she had barely put her weight on it. Nevertheless, the table tipped toward her, causing her to lose her footing (darn those stupid heels) and land unceremoniously on her backside, where she was then drenched head to toe in bright red punch. She shrieked as several trays of snacks narrowly missed her head, but that didn't stop their contents from spilling all over her.

"And that is what you get for showing up where you're not wanted." Lia heard Lauren's voice and looked up. She had her phone out, recording the whole ordeal. Several others had whipped their phones out and were taking pictures and recording videos as well. Everybody around her was laughing and pointing at her. Peter was standing next to Lauren with a shocked look on his face, his mouth wide open.

Lia tried to stand up, only to slip and fall once more into the slippery mess of refreshments. Eventually, she resorted to crawling away from the mess on her hands and knees before standing, kicking off her heels, and running for dear life to get away from the nightmare scenario, with Lauren recording the whole thing.

She made it outside and sat on the steps of the school. It was September, but the night was chilly. She shivered and pulled her knees to her chest, but didn't go back inside. She tried to think of anything else other than what had just happened, but all she could see when she closed her eyes was Lauren, her phone pointed at her, recording the whole thing…

Lia bit her lip, hard. She was NOT going to cry.

Lia heard the door behind her open and close, not bothering to turn and see who it was. She honestly didn't care at that point. Things couldn't possibly get any worse than they already were.

Peter sat down silently next to his best friend and handed her his Midtown High sweatshirt, which he had retrieved from his locker moments before. She took it, slipping it on over her soaking wet dress, before scooting closer to him. He put his arm around her, and she laid her forehead on his shoulder. They were silent for a bit.

Peter was honestly more than a little worried when he saw how hard Lia was biting her lip. He kissed the top of her head, before whispering into her hair.

"It's okay to cry, you know."

"No it's not," Lia responded. "If you cry, it means that you're letting them get to you. It means that you're letting them win. It means…" She hesitated, before whispering, "It means you're weak."

Peter was shocked. He lifted Lia's head so that she was looking at him. "Lia, just because you cry, it doesn't mean the bullies win. There are always going to be people who hurt your feelings and make you feel like the dirt beneath their feet, but just because you cry about it, it doesn't mean that you're weak. In fact, it's the exact opposite. It takes a strong person to hold their emotions in, but it takes an even stronger person to let them all out. And you, Lia, are the strongest person I've ever met." He tightened his grip on her. "Do you understand, Butterfly?"

And that's when she lost it.

All it took was hearing her nickname come from Peter's lips and not her bully's. Tears started leaking out of her eyes and she let out a sob. Peter put his other arm around her and pulled her closer to him, leaning his head on hers, holding her tightly while she cried. All the hurt and pain she had been holding in for the past month came pouring out all at once. Peter's shoulder was growing wetter by the second but he didn't care. All that mattered at that moment in time was the girl crying her heart out in his arms. He ran a hand up and down her arm in an attempt to calm her.

Slowly, but surely, she started quieting down. Her sobs turned to shallow breaths, which then turned to hiccups. Then, finally, the hiccups went away, and all was silent once more.

Peter still held Lia tightly, not planning on letting go of her anytime soon. He was angry at himself for not seeing what was right in front of his face the whole time.

"Are you mad?" Lia broke the silence in a small voice.

"Why would I be mad?" Peter asked.

"Because I didn't tell you what was going on." She shifted in Peter's arms.

"No, I'm not mad. But I am curious. Why didn't you tell me?" he asked.

"She said if I told anyone she would tell Flash to beat you up," she said quietly.

Peter was once again amazed by Lia. She had suffered in silence, not telling anyone what was going on, to protect him.

"You stayed quiet about all this to protect me?" he asked, astounded.

Lia nodded. Peter gaped at her. "Wow. That's just… wow." He was in awe of his best friend's strength and courage.

"I didn't tell anyone. Not even Bucky." Lia said.

"Speaking of Bucky…" Peter pulled out his phone and started scrolling through his contacts. "I'm gonna give him a call and have him send a car for you."

Lia lifted her head to look at Peter. "How did you get Bucky's number?" she asked.

Peter saw no reason to lie. "He called me. He noticed you were acting odd and wondered if we had gotten into a fight or something. We talked a few more times after that. We were just trying to figure out what was going on with you. He's been pretty worried about you, too."

"That… actually explains quite a bit of his behavior," she said. "He got this funny look on his face when I walked in and saw him talking on the phone the other day." She laid her head back on Peter's shoulder.

Peter found Bucky's contact and pressed call. A few rings later, he picked up.

" _Peter? Is everything okay?"_

"Yeah, yeah, everything is fine. Well…" Peter looked down at Lia, "everything is sort of fine."

" _What do you mean? Is Lia alright?"_

"Physically, yeah, she perfectly fine. But emotionally… that's an entirely different story."

" _What happened?"_

"I found out why she's been acting so weird lately. She's being bullied. The girl who asked me to Homecoming pretty much dumped the entire refreshments table on her and filmed the entire aftermath."

Peter heard a growl. He hurried to calm the Russian assassin on the other end of the phone. "It's okay, everything's fine now, it's all been taken care of. But we could use a ride."

 _Alright, I'll send the car over early. But it still won't be there for a while."_

That's okay, we'll just go over to my house and hang out until it gets here. My aunt should be home."

" _Okay, I'll tell the driver to go to your house, then."_ There was a pause on the other end. " _Thanks for taking care of her, kid."_

"Of course."

Peter hung up the phone and looked down at Lia. Her eyes were closed.

"Hey Lia, you awake?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm awake. Just tired."

"Think you can make it to my place? Bucky's sending a car, but it won't be here for a while."

Lia groaned. "I left my shoes inside."

Peter held up her shoes. "I grabbed them on my way out."

Lia sat up. "Peter Benjamin Parker, you are a saint."

She slid her feet back into the heels and grabbed Peter's outstretched hand. He pulled her up and put her arm around his waist before placing his around her shoulders. They walked the two blocks to Peter's apartment in relative silence.

ooOOoo

When they got to Peter's building, Lia kicked off her heels. "Okay, I'm done with these. I don't know how Michelle talked me into wearing them." She picked them up before following Peter up the stairs to his apartment. Unlocking the door, he stepped inside.

"May? I'm home!" he called out.

Peter's aunt walked out of the kitchen. "Peter? I thought the dance wasn't over for another two hours," she began, before getting a good look at who he'd brought with him.

"Lia? Honey, what happened to you?" she asked, concerned.

Lia shot Peter an 'I really don't want to talk about this' look. He spoke up.

"She had a, um, accident at the dance tonight, so we left early."

"Oh, you poor thing! You're soaked! Come with me, let's get you cleaned up. Then we'll find some clothes that fit you." She led Lia down the hallway toward her bedroom, but not before glancing back at Peter with a 'we're going to talk about this when I come back' look.

Peter sighed and plopped down on the couch to wait for May. She returned a few minutes later, holding Peter's Midtown High sweatshirt between her finger and thumb like it was a dead fish. Tossing it into the laundry room, she came and sat down next to Peter.

"What happened to that poor girl? She looked like somebody pushed her into a swimming pool filled with red dye!"

"You remember the girl I was telling you about, Lauren? Apparently, she's been bullying Lia for the past month or so. She told Lia not to go to the dance tonight or she'd regret it. Well, Lia went, and you can see how well that turned out. Lauren dumped pretty much the entire refreshments table over her head."

May gasped. "She had the entire refreshments table dumped on her? Why would anyone do that to sweet Lia?"

Peter shook his head. "I don't know. What I do know is that Lauren filmed the whole thing on her phone. I wouldn't be surprised if she's already posted it online somewhere."

May grimaced. "How did Lia take it?" she asked.

"Not good at all. She had a massive breakdown on the steps of the school. Apparently, she'd been holding everything in for the past month. I called one of the Avengers and asked them to send a car to pick her up. It should be here in a little while."

May shook her head. "Poor girl. Going through something like that and not telling anyone about it for a whole month. She didn't even tell you, then?"

"Nope. She told me tonight that she didn't tell anyone what was going on because Lauren told her that if she told anyone she would tell Flash to come and beat me up."

May's eyes widened. "So she went through all of that by herself to protect you? That's some friend you've got there Peter."

Peter smiled at that thought. "Yeah, I know."

At that moment, Lia walked out of May's room. She was wearing a rather large pair of sweats that was cinched at her waist with a hair elastic and one of Peter's science t-shirts.

Peter started. "That's my t-shirt." He made sure to say it quiet enough that only May could hear him.

"I just grabbed the first shirt I found out of the clean laundry and that happened to be it," she replied back.

Lia yawned. "Thanks for letting me use your shower, May," she said.

May smiled. "Don't worry about it, honey. Are you hungry? I made meatloaf."

Peter frantically shook his head at Lia from behind May. She got the message.

"No thanks. But could I have a drink?"

"Of course. I'll get you some water." She stood and left toward the kitchen.

Lia came and sat down next to Peter. He lifted his arm and she moved to cuddle into his side. She laid her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes.

When May came back a few minutes later, Lia was fast asleep on Peter's shoulder. She placed the glass of water on the coffee table and raised an eyebrow at him.

He shrugged the shoulder that Lia wasn't using as a pillow. May just shook her head, handing him the TV remote and putting a finger to her lips.

ooOOoo

The car Bucky had sent to take Lia home arrived not too long after that. Peter was able to get Lia semi-awake, at least enough so that she could buckle her seatbelt before falling asleep again. May handed the driver Lia's purple dress in a grocery bag, along with her shoes. When the driver reached the compound, Bucky ended up carrying Lia inside to her room.

She spent the weekend desperately trying (and failing) not to worry about what would happen at school on Monday. Lauren had posted her humiliating video online, where it already had over a million hits. Bucky had to physically remove the Stark Pad from her hands so she wouldn't keep checking it.

When Monday came around, she had to force herself out of bed, reminding herself that if she didn't go today, it would only be worse when she went tomorrow. The drive to school was made in blessed silence. Normally her driver liked to make small talk with her on the way there, but he seemed to realize she wasn't in a talking mood.

Peter was waiting outside for Lia to get there. He had no intention of letting her go inside to face the music alone. The car pulled up and Lia stepped out.

"You ready for this?" Peter asked.

"Not even close," Lia replied with a grimace.

They walked through the doors of the school together. As soon as they reached the main hallway, people started pointing and laughing. Lia groaned. Peter grabbed her hand and squeezed it comfortingly.

"Well, well, if it isn't Little Miss Slip n' Slide." Lauren's voice came from behind them.

Lia tensed. Peter turned around, intending to tell Lauren to back off, but Lia grabbed his arm.

"Let me do this," she said quietly. "I'll let you know if I need you." Peter frowned but let her go.

"What do you want, Lauren?" she asked.

"Oh, nothing. Just wondered if you've seen this hilarious new video somebody posted online a few days ago. It's already up to two million views." she grinned evilly.

"You know what, Lauren?" Lia took a few steps closer to the blonde girl. "I'm done. I'm not doing this anymore. I don't know what your problem is or why you enjoy making me feel like crap, but I'm not letting this go on any further. I. Am. DONE."

Lauren laughed. "You really think that's going to make me stop? Seriously, that's even more pathetic than what happened at Homecoming."

Lia took a deep breath. "I'm not pathetic. What's pathetic is that you feel the need to pick on me constantly for your own personal gain."

She continued. "Since the day I stepped through the doors of this place you've made me feel like the dirt beneath your feet. But no more. I'm not dealing with this anymore. If you keep bothering me, I will report you to the principal. Make whatever threats you like, I don't care. I have friends in high places, and I will not hesitate to use my influence over them against you. And if you ever threaten my best friend again, you are gonna have a whole lot worse to deal with than the current contents of your locker."

Lauren's eyes widened, before contorting into a scowl. "You absolute brat!" she shouted. "I'll get you for this!" She took off down the hall toward her locker.

Peter raised an eyebrow at Lia. "What did you put in her locker?" he asked.

"Nothing at all. I just wanted her to think I put something in there. Figured it oughta keep her busy for a while." She smiled. A real, genuine smile.

"Oh, you're evil," Peter grinned. Then, an idea popped into his head. "But not nearly as evil as me." He poked her side.

She laughed and scrambled away. "What was that for?" she asked.

"I just wanted to hear you laugh," he replied honestly. "I haven't heard you laugh in so long."

"It has been a while, huh?" she agreed. She sobered. "I'm sorry I made you worry."

"Just promise me that if something like this happens again you'll tell me about it." Peter requested.

"I promise," Lia said. And with that, they set off for their first class, a wide smile on Lia's face.


End file.
